As the reigning Manoa Cup champion, Peter Jung has some insight into enduring the weeklong test of nerves and stamina.
“I’ll tell you, I think recovery is very important,” Jung said, taking a seat on a bench next to Oahu Country Club’s 14th green after closing out a semifinal victory on Friday.
Jung’s title defense survived the state amateur match-play championship’s quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on Friday and the Washington State sophomore got a bit of a head start on recharging for today’s 36-hole final against Kolbe Irei.
Irei, a Roosevelt graduate entering his junior year at UC Irvine, rallied late in regulation against 17-year-old Luciano Conlan — who played 43 holes in likely one of the longest days in the history of the state’s longest running event — and advanced to his first Manoa Cup final with a 21-hole victory.
Jung and Irei, who crossed paths during the college season, will tee off at 7 a.m. for the 113th Manoa Cup title.
Jung began Friday’s play with a 3-and-1 win over 2017 Manoa Cup champion Andy Okita in the Open Division quarterfinals, then pulled away from close friend and University of Hawaii sophomore Tyler Ogawa for a 5-and-4 victory to return to the final.
Jung, the No. 1 seed in the 64-player bracket as defending champion, earned a shot at becoming the first back-to-back Manoa Cup winner since David Fink’s titles in 2010 and ’11. Fink is also the last top seed to win the event.
“Honestly, from the quarters and on, I know anybody can beat me, so I just went out there and played golf,” Jung said. “All these guys are good and it’s match play, so anything can happen. Anything.”
After fending off Okita in Friday’s morning session, Jung went 3 up through six holes in his semifinal matchup with Ogawa, who had advanced with a 3-and-1 win over Marshall Kim.
An errant chip and a three-putt on No. 10 cut into Jung’s lead, but he got it back when he curled in a birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 11th hole.
“It was huge,” Jung said of the momentum swing. “I’m really happy with the way I helped myself today. I just stayed as calm as possible because I knew Tyler was going to play well.”
Jung effectively put the match away on the par-5 13th, the most arduous climb on the hilly OCC layout in Nuuanu Valley.
Some 230 yards out on his second shot, Jung smoked a 3-wood that settled about 10 feet from the pin to set up an eagle that put him 5 up with five to play.
“Oh my gosh,” was Jung’s reaction as he caught sight of his ball on the green upon cresting the hill.
“I flushed that and I knew it was either right or right at it,” Jung said after the round. “I didn’t know it was going to be that close.”
Jung closed out his match on No. 14 as Irei and Conlan were making their way back down the slope.
Irei was 2 down with three to play and made a nervy 7-foot par putt on 17 to extend the match and drained another from 9 feet on 18 to send it to extra holes.
They traded bogeys on the 19th hole and pars on the 20th. Irei stuck his approach to OCC’s third green to 8 feet and a two-putt was enough to send him to the final.
“My short game and putting have been pretty good throughout all of these rounds,” Irei said. “I was down pretty much the whole round, so that was my mentality, just grinding out putts. Definitely a little nervous over those putts (on 17 and 18) but glad they went in.”
Conlan, who recently moved back to Hawaii after spending close to four years in California, played a total of 43 holes on Friday. He teed off against Irei just a few minutes after surviving a 22-hole quarterfinal duel with UH senior Zachary Sagayaga.
Conlan played junior golf in Hawaii while growing up in Haleiwa, and committed to UCLA during his stay in Carlsbad, Calif. He moved back to Pupukea and won the U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifier at Hualalai on the Big Island on June 18.
“I was pretty exhausted already, so I took each shot the best I could and got pretty far,” Conlan said.
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113TH MANOA CUP
At Oahu Country Club
Friday
Semifinals
Peter Jung def. Tyler Ogawa, 5&4
Kolbe Irei def. Luciano Conlan, 21 holes
Quarterfinals
Jung def. Andy Okita, 3&1
Ogawa def. Marshall Kim, 3&1
Conlan def. Zachary Sagayaga, 22 holes
Irei def. Anson Cabello, 4&3
